all hops CAN be used in all situations but you don't necessarily want to. Like so many other things in brewing there is a large aspect of personal taste involved.

There are a few strains that tend to be very good for bittering because they have a high Alpha Acid content (you will see hops advertised with an AA%, bittering hops tend to be 8%-14% but can go up to near 20% at times. of course there are traditional british recipes that call for using british hops with low AA%.

There are hops that have intriguing flavours and/or aromas that are also very expensive and so you might want to reserve them for situations where you will really taste and/or smell them.

As Mort mentioned above, you can use hops any way you like. However, some hops are better for bittering than they would be as flavor/ aroma additions and vice versa. Magnum, for example, is a great clean bittering hop that's used by many at the beginning of the boil. Cascade, on the other hand, is great for flavor/ aroma/ dry hop additions, but because of its lower AA%, may not be your best choice as a bitter addition at the beginning of the boil.

Beersmith is another good tool when it comes time to decide what hops to use, when to use them and how much to use.

Logged

Jeremy Baker

"An escalator can never break: it can only become stairs. You should never see an Escalator Temporarily Out Of Order sign, just Escalator Temporarily Stairs. Sorry for the convenience." - Mitch Hedberg

There are no hard and fast rules when it comes to hops. Any hop can be used for bittering, flavor and/or aroma. Some are better suited for different applications, however. A low alpha hop is probably not the best idea for a beer that needs a lot of IBU's simply because of the sheer volume of hop material that is required.

Here are a few recommendations to get you started. Everyone's tastes and palates are different, so please play around. This is in no way an inclusive list, but it's a few ideas for you.

Clean bittering hops:Warrior, Magnum, Horizon

Sharp bittering hops (suited for an IPA):Columbus, Chinook

Citrus aroma/flavor:CascadeCentennialAmarilloNelson Sauvin

Tropical fruit aroma/flavor:CitraGalaxyRakau

Piney aroma/flavor:SimcoeChinook

Dank/resinous flavor/aroma:ColumbusApolloSimcoeSummit (but it can also taste like onions, so user beware)

Earthy flavor/aroma:FugglesWillametteStyrian Goldings

Floral flavor/aroma:East Kent GoldingsAmarilloCentennial

The flavor descriptors aren't as simple as I'm making them look either. For example, even though I consider Columbus a dank hop primarily, I still get pine and citrus from it. I also haven't branched out into too many noble-type hops as I don't brew too many traditional lagers. I'm sure there are others here who can give you a bit more guidance in those styles.

I am a big hophead, and one of the primary reasons I got into homebrewing was to explore the whole hoppy side of things. I strongly encourage you to experiment. If something sounds interesting, then buy a few ounces and brew a Pale Ale with it. There are a few less-common hop varieties that have become staples in my brewery (Caliente and Motueka in particular) because I gave them a trial run and fell in love with them.

i've bittered a porter entirely with centennial and i have a double ipa that i use large amounts of warrior for late and dry hopping. both are really good beers. i also almost never brew the same beer twice. i'm not concerned about medals or re brew ability. for me it's about just playing around and seeing what happens.

that said, i love to almost always use simcoe, amarillo or centennial in large amounts for pales and ipas. i love chinook and willamette for some things. i have dry hopped with french strisselsplat just cause i had it on hand. i love english kent for my porters and always add some ahtanum late in them.

i just love trying different combinations to see what happens with the beers i brew because i know i can get great beers on tap or at the store.

Rather than try to figure out what everybody else normally does you should focus on what flavor profile you want to create and look at which hops get you to that profile. Since all hops can be used in all ways it would make more sense to understand what effect each addition will have and what flavors and aromas each provides.

Although people would probably punch you in the eye for using some of the newer and hard to find varieties like Citra and Mosaic for bittering.